Great trivia- some I knew. 4500 calories- for some especially taller people or major athletes this isn't much over a regular day. For me since I started tracking I had one day of over 2100 and that was a lot. but- nothing I wasn't used to before I started tracking. I was so proud of my self yesterday. I didn't go over my allotted calories for the day. Plus I didn't feel deprived at all.
- 11/23/2012 4:32:40 PM

Not sure I have my facts straight but think the first year we celebrated Thanksgiving was with the native Indians who supplied eel to celebrate the occasion not turkey or goose.Am I wrong??
- 11/23/2012 1:33:23 PM

I can't imagine eating 4500 cals in one day let alone at one meal! I came in under my alloted 1800 for the day but I still felt guilty because I ate a piece of chocolate raspberry cake that wasn't even that good. My biggest problem is cutting sodium more than calories!
- 11/23/2012 10:55:52 AM

Last year I commented that 4500 cal. was 3-days worth of food, and the next poster said, no, only for those trying to lose weight. And that's the problem, isn't it? What is the average calorie intake for people in emerging countries?

I love the idea of Thanksgiving, but it's gotten to be like our idea of Christmas--conspicuous consumption--gluttony, greed. That's really sad--not funny (or trivial) at all.
- 11/23/2012 9:34:52 AM

Historians believe the Macys parade was instituted by Europeans immigrants who made up the majority of employees at Macys in the 1920’s they wanted to celebrate with traditions that were like those in Europe which included a parade. They borrowed animals from the zoo in central park in 1927 Macys was concerned about the children along the parade route the live animals with balloons in animals shapes Felix the cat and a dragon were the first balloons in the parade

urkeys will have 3,500 feathers at maturity.

Turkeys have poor night vision.

The heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog. - 11/22/2012 11:52:34 PM

That average count is scary. Considering that's an AVERAGE (and I managed to squeeze in just under my max limit for the day!), that means there are some who eat even more than that. The mind is boggling right now.

I think we need to import Turkey Bowling to the Pacific NW. I would so get in on that.

We had seven people and a 22-lb turkey, but there were tons of leftovers that all our family was happy to take home with them, including half the turkey (we froze a quarter of it) and all the potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce. As usual, the preparation and cleanup took most of the day, while dinner took an hour to eat. The main point of this kind of gathering for a celebratory meal is to get family members together who rarely see one another between such events. It's worth a few hours' extra work, and besides our house is sparkling clean after preparing for the holiday gathering. We are so blessed.
- 11/22/2012 5:27:16 PM

Thanksgiving Day was first established as a US national holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 at the height of the Civil War as a way to “heal the wounds of the nation.” (For all you history nerds out there :)

Well, when these things are done as slide shows, those few of us who use a screen reader due to visual impairment can't read them. So, I read the comments and learn something sometimes. Yes, I knew there was a difference between yams and sweet potato. No candied yams at this table! Yuck! - 11/25/2010 5:50:15 PM

Interesting Thanksgiving factoid. Did you know that lobster was one of the foods served at the first Thanksgiving feast ??? Lobster, oysters and fish were all plentiful to the colonists of Plymouth.
- 11/25/2010 8:37:15 AM

Most I had learned from a group I go to thoughout the week. We had a class on the trivia. Don't forget the Turkey Trot the dance. You can get in a lot of exercise with that one. Also only male turkeys gobble. The females only cluck or click. The gobble is not a mating call. It's for when they hear noises etc. They can have heart attacks. They used to drop dead from a jet plane or a helicopter coming close to them.
- 11/25/2010 7:26:36 AM

I learned something in preparing for my son's Cub Scout meeting the other day. During the winter of their first year here, we all know times were tough for the Pilgrims..but to really appreciate how tough, think about this: each person was allotted 5 (five) KERNELS of corn per day to eat because of the scarcity of food. Another sobering statistic a friend of mine sent to me is that the Pilgrims dug 5 times more graves than they built huts for themselves in their first year here. Certainly not looking to put us on a "downer" on this most blessed holiday, but definitely reminding myself how very fortunate I am, and most definitely being thankful for that!!
- 11/25/2010 6:19:02 AM

So proud of my family! We just ate our special dinner. Mostly low calorie choices, some new dishes, and our traditional favorites (but limited the serving sizes!). Now for pie (1/16th of my recipe is only 134 cals and 16 carbs)! We did not consume 4500 between the THREE of us!
- 11/24/2010 7:33:01 PM

Fun facts!! 4500 calories????? wow. will not eat nearly that much as we only have 4 people and I do not prepare that big of a meal and do not have seconds. hopefully will only be a couple of hundred calories over my limit due to the fact that we will have a dessert which we never have except on holidays.
- 11/24/2010 5:21:25 PM

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